Allegiant receives backing from three RE execs

Allegiant Real Estate Capital has secured its first round of equity capital since its launch, the New York-based debt firm said Wednesday.

Anthony Tufariello, the former co-chief investment officer of real estate at Fortress Investment Group, and New York developers Ziel Feldman and Nir Meir made a “strategic investment” of an undisclosed size in the firm. Allegiant plans to use the capital infusion to expand its limited partner base, grow its assets under management and broaden its product offering.

Allegiant was founded in September as a spinoff of Cerberus Capital Management affiliate FirstKey Lending. Led by chief executive Randy Reiff, the firm launched with an advisory agreement to deploy up to $500 million in commercial real estate debt on behalf of an unnamed financial services firm.

“After the recession, many banks reduced their commercial real estate lending exposure as they faced increased regulation and scrutiny, which in turn served as a launch-pad for non-bank lenders like Allegiant to step in and fill the gap,” Reiff said in a statement. “As evidence of this opportunity, Allegiant has gained tremendous momentum over the past six months and is currently on pace to originate more than $1 billion in loans in 2017.”

Tufariello added: “With the dislocation in the market, we are confident that additional opportunities exist and will be actively seeking to invest in other compelling and complimentary commercial real estate investment management platforms, development platforms and other related businesses creating a vertically integrated offering across the entire commercial real estate capital structure.”

Last month, the firm funded a $60 million senior mortgage to refinance a loan collateralized by a school in Manhattan, Reiff said. The property is 100 percent net leased to one tenant that plans to renovate the building.

“Having worked closely with Randy and his team as a borrower, we have great confidence in their capabilities and are excited to partner with them,” Feldman said. “In the normal course of our core business developing, owning and managing commercial and residential real estate, we regularly see compelling opportunities that our partnership with Allegiant will allow us to pursue.”